Dolet Hills Mine

Dolet Hills Mine is a lignite mine in DeSoto Parish, Louisiana, operated by the Dolet Hills Lignite Company, a subsidiary of SWEPCO, with reserves also owned by Cleco Power. The mine is the fuel source for the Dolet Hills Power Station.

Since 1985, more than 64 million tons of lignite have been extracted from the Dolet Hills Reserves. According to SWEPCO officials, the days of surface-level extraction are coming to an end. Although 43 million tons of recoverable lignite are believed to remain at Dolet Hills, most lie over 100 feet below the surface, according to Dolet Hills Lignite Co. general manager Dennis Meyer. Extra equipment - a hydraulic excavator, 100- to 150-ton dump trucks, bulldozers and a motorgrader - must aid the enormous draglines used to remove material, which Meyer says make extraction costs about five times as much as using the dragline by itself. SWEPCO believes that between 2016 and 2019, mining the Dolet Hills Reserves will become uneconomical.

Mine Data

 * Owner: Dolet Hills Lignite Company
 * Parent company: SWEPCO and Cleco Power
 * Location: 508 Dhmv Ascess Rd, Mansfield, Louisiana
 * GPS coordinates: 32.011861,-93.605576
 * Production: 2.6 million tons
 * Type of coal: Lignite
 * Mine type: Surface
 * Equipment: Dragline, hydraulic excavator, dump trucks, bulldozers, motorgrader
 * Number of employees: 199

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